Memory
by ZAFT Prime
Summary: A soldier watches as her home heads towards certain ruin once again. Following the heart can lead to better futures. Hints of AthrunXCagalli, Yuna-bashing involved. Please read and review!


**New Gundam Seed story here! I thought Cagalli needed a bit more love, so I decided to write out this fic. These are her thoughts on Episode 40 of Gundam Seed Destiny. There are spoilers in here for the ep, as I basically wrote everything word for word that happened in the episode. Anyway, I hope that you all will read and review! Don't forget to read my other story, Gundam SEED: Divisions as well! ^^**

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Memory

_'Yuna…you idiot. How can you do something like this to ORB? Preventing the citizens from finding out about the upcoming attack from ZAFT… you make me sick.'_

_'How can you be harboring Djibril? Are you a member of Blue Cosmos? Or are you a supporter instead? Either way, you have betrayed ORB's ideals, and the promise my father made to the people.'_

I walk down the hallways of the _Archangel_, fury flooding my veins at Yuna's actions. He is nothing more than an idealistic fool who is using ORB as his plaything. How ironic of him. The bastard told _me_ to not treat ORB as a plaything, and yet _he_ is doing the same thing!

A soldier runs up to me. "Lady Cagalli!" he says as he comes to a stop. I stop walking. "I already know. You want to tell me this isn't a battle yet. That I shouldn't rush out. That I should wait to see what Unato does next." I snarl. He can only stare at me.

"Yes…and Colonel Kisaka agrees." He replies.

I clench my fists in anger. How can they still treat me like I am a child? I am eighteen years old, and more than capable of running the country. At least, better than Yuna anyway…

"I know all that! But still…" I trail off, thinking of Yuna trying to hide the Blue Cosmos leader from ZAFT.

_'Yuna… You will pay for this. For trying to marry me against my will, and for making ORB betray its ideals. I will see to that myself…especially for the first part. Athrun suffered because of you, and I cannot forgive something like that so easily, you traitorous slime…'_

I turn my head to face Mirillia as she speaks to me and the others in the bridge several minutes later.

"The ORB government is on the air. It's an official response. I'm putting it on the speakers." She says as she does so. I look up at the screens, which play Yuna's message to ZAFT.

"_On behalf of the government of ORB, allow me to reply to your warning."_ Yuna says as we all gasp. "Yuna…" I murmur as fear floods me. This is what I have feared, and it is going to make things worse than they already are…

"_The individual by the name of Lord Djibril, whom you have demanded we hand over, is simply not in this country."_ Yuna says with complete confidence, as if he could hide the insane man.

"Yuna, NO!" I cry as if he could hear me. But it does no good.

"_Furthermore, this kind of intimidation, where the threat of force is used to try and tarnish our good name, is an insult to our sovereign nation. We find it distasteful. Therefore, we insist you withdraw your forces at once."_ Yuna says as the announcement ends.

"How could he?" I snarl as my fists clench tighter than anything I ever thought I would experience. "Does he really think that his words are helping?"

Anger floods me as I realize that ZAFT will see through his lie with no problem.

_'You bastard! How could you believe that you are a skilled liar? I could do a better job than that, yet I would hand your client over without hesitation!'_

"The situation is out of control!" I growl as I try to remain in control of my emotions. But it does little to help. My anger is at new heights, and I cannot settle down.

"Detecting Mobile Suit launches from ZAFT ships!" Mirillia exclaims as the radar sounds in front of her. I turn, knowing what was coming next. "Ashes, DINNs, Babis, Goufs!" Mir says as she looks at the names of the units.

"What about ORB? How are they deployed? Are they evacuating?" I demand. I fear the worst as she scans the wavelengths.

"There's no movement just yet…" Mir replies.

"WHAT?" Amagi and I are shocked. What is Yuna up to?

"There's no evacuation warning either…" Mir says, a grim tone in her voice. That fills me with fear for the nation as well as the people. "Quite the opposite. The citizens haven't been told anything about what's happening off the coast of Onogoro." She adds.

"Huh?" I felt a strange feeling fill me, a feeling of dread that I have felt in the past. The feeling of ORB's burning…

"Lady Cagalli…" Amagi says as he looks at me. He is concerned about ORB as well, but not the way I am.

_'What should I do? I can't just stand by the way I did in the past! I just can't!'_

Then, the words I dread come from Mirillia on her station.

"ORB's main island is under attack. It looks like they are going after the Seiran estate." The CIC says.

I hear Captain Ramius pick up the phone to communicate with the engine room. "Can the ship get underway yet?"

"_Definitely not! We're nowhere near finished with the engines!"_ the engine tech replies to her. Rage fills my being, making me feel helpless. ORB is going to burn again, and I can't do anything to stop it!

A few minutes pass as I try to make the right decision. It finally comes to me that I cannot allow ORB to suffer the way it had in the first war. I have my decision made.

"Amagi, we should send out the Murasames." I tell him. He is shocked at my decision I have made, but he does not argue.

"Uh…yes ma'am." He replies.

I feel a new feeling fill me, but I do not dwell on it.

"Then let's go." I say. Then, I face Murrue. "Captain, may I have your permission to use the Skygrasper?" I have a feeling she is going to say know, but I know what I must do.

"What?" Captain Ramius is shocked, as is Amagi. "Lady Cagalli!"

"We'll fight, even if we're the only ones." I say, determination in my voice.

"Are you insane? Out there, in the Skygrasper?" Murrue yells at me as I run for the door.

"I cannot let my country burn again!" I yell back. I know that what I say is not a partial truth. ORB is not Yuna's plaything, and as a result of his actions, the country is going to suffer again! I now know how important it is to be ORB's leader, as I am the true leader of the country, not Yuna.

"I can't just stand back and watch!" I snarl at the captain. Memories fill me, ones that remind me of how helpless I had been when ORB had burned the first time around. She does not have time to reply, as I turn and run to exit the bridge. But I do not get far, as Kisaka and Miss Erika enter the bridge as I try to leave.

"Cagalli." Kisaka says to me as I reel from bumping into him.

"Colonel Kisaka." Neumann says as he looks at my bodyguard.

"Miss Erika." Murrue murmurs as she turns to face the chief engineer.

"Let's go Amagi. I'm using that machine!" I tell him as I turn to leave for the Skygrasper in the hanger. But I am stopped by Kisaka as he grabs me.

"Cagalli, just wait." Kisaka tells me as I throw his hands off of my shoulders.

Anger fills me. Is everyone going to try and stop me from doing what I feel is right?

"I'm not waiting anymore!" I snarl at Kisaka. How it doesn't affect him, I do not know, but he grabs me again.

"I want you to come with me!" he growls as he tries to maintain his grip on my shoulders.

"I can't!" I cry back as I try to break free. "If ORB's about to be plunged into war, I'd rather throw myself into the flames than do nothing at all!" I snarl as I glare at the colonel.

"I'd know you do it. That's why you have to come with me." Kisaka says in a calm voice as he holds me in place. Is he trying to keep me in the ship like I am nothing more than just an important item?

"SHUT UP!" I yell as I finally wrench myself free from the older man's grasp. "LET GO!"

"Just calm down." Miss Erika says as she approaches me. "You can go out there if you want to, but we'd like you to hear Lord Uzumi's message before you go."

That stops me in my tracks. Was that what Kisaka was trying to get me to go with him for? It had to be…

"My father's message?" I ask. It sounds like he has one last thing for me, as if he hasn't caused me enough grief…

"Yes." Miss Erika tells me. "His last will…" I stare. What could he have left me, other than a forced marriage with Yuna, and a council that I can barely control as well as a country that I lost?

I am led down to a hanger that has never been entered before. In front of me is a plaque that has dust on it.

"There are words etched on the plate here." Miss Erika tells me as she points towards the stand. It is in front of a doorway. But what was behind it that my father had hidden from me? My own ship, what? "Read them."

I reach up and wipe off the dust, revealing the words to me.

"'A wish, that the day when this door need be opened, never arrives.'…" I say as I read the words that my father had no doubt engraved himself.

The doors begin to move, revealing a black chamber.

"'The day when this door need be opened'… In other words, the day when ORB was in danger of being scorched by war again." Miss Erika explains as the doors come to a stop, fully opened. "That's what he meant."

She and I walk in, Kisaka and Amagi following us in. I stop and look up, seeing a form that was shrouded in blackness.

"Here it is. The legacy of Lord Uzumi sealed away until now…" Miss Erika says as she flips up a switch that turns on the lights in the room.

It is blinding, as I have to throw up my arms to shield my eyes from the brightness of the form in front of me. When it fades, I lower my arms, and shock fills me.

There, before me, is a golden Mobile Suit that I have never seen before.

"A golden Mobile Suit?" Amagi asks, awed by the sight in front of him.

I stare, amazed. So this is what my father had left me? Then, I hear his voice. Shock fills me.

"_Cagalli…"_ it begins.

"It's…my father…" I murmur as the recording continues.

"_Should the day come when you have a need of additional power, consider this gift my answer to that need…"_ Tears begin to well up in my eyes as I recall his caring side.

"_There are many things I wasn't able to teach you myself…but if you have an open heart, you can learn everything you'll ever need from those around you, from those who love and support you."_ Memories of Kira, Athrun, Lacus, Murrue, Kisaka, Erika, and Todaka flash by my eyes as I reflect on them while my father's voice speaks to me.

"_Therefore, I can only give you what you see now before you."_ My father's words bring my tears to surface, making me realize how much he had actually cared for me.

"_Power is what everyone makes of it. Foolish are those who hope for it in excess. Equally foolish are those who resent it for no reason. Think of it as a sword, for protection."_ I reflect on how the building of the first Gundams made me feel, and on what I had said to Kira that day. Memories of me arguing with my father surface, along with the first meeting with Chairman Durandal. My father's words echo, their meaning clear to me.

"_If you need this now, then take it. If it will help you walk the right path, it is yours…"_ his voice says. I feel my legs go weak at the sheer emotion that fills my body.

"Thank you father…" I murmur before my emotional walls break, releasing the pent-up sadness at his loss.

"_However, I had hoped the day would never come when this door would be opened. If it has been opened, then these words may be in vain…But my dear Cagalli, I wish you along and happy life…"_ Memories of the day I lost him surface, and I try to clam down, but the sadness is too strong to keep inside. I decide to just let it all out, to accept the fact that he is actually gone.

"Father…oh, father…" I cry, vaguely hearing Kisaka walk up beside me. He places a hand on my shoulder, trying to reassure me.

"Cagalli…" he says. I look at Kisaka, tears still running down my face. "…will you take the Akatsuki?" Kisaka asks me.

"The Akatsuki?" I ask as I look at the Mobile Suit before me. Was that its name? If it was…it seemed…fitting…as if ORB would rise again to a new dawn…

Then, I reply to him. "Yes."

I sit in the cockpit as the OS comes online. The cameras show the hanger where my father had placed the Akatsuki, where it was meant to be found if it was needed.

The wires fall away as the systems come online at full power. _"ORB-01, Akatsuki, system activated. Go ahead, launch."_ Miss Erika says over the com-line.

She opens the hanger doors above me, my signal to launch to defend ORB.

"Cagalli Yula Attha, Akatsuki, taking off!" I cry as I shove the controls into the launch position and stomp on the pedals to get airborne.

I feel the engines fire as the machine takes to the air. I leave the safety of the hanger, and exit out into the chaotic battlefield. The _Archangel_ Murasames are not too far behind me, and I am glad for that.

As I get closer to the battle zone, I can see ORB forces struggling to hold what I can tell is a weak defensive position. A snarl forms in my throat at Yuna's pathetic strategy. I could do better.

Before the defensive line can collapse, I fire on a ZAFT Gouf, destroying it. The Murasames of the _Archangel_ are now beside me as we head towards the main island.

"_They need to rebuild their defensive lines if we're to hold them off."_ Kisaka says as he flies in Andrew's custom Murasame.

"We'll take over the defense headquarters and then reorganize them. I want one team to come with me. The rest of you, hold the line." I order as I fly towards the target. Three of the squad follow me, knowing that it is the only chance we have. I smile a bit, knowing that I am leaving the defensive line in good hands.

I use the Akatsuki's main cameras to tell me that we have been picked up. Good.

"_This is the daughter of Uzumi Nara Attha, Cagalli Yula Attha."_ I announce. They are stunned to see my image appear before them. Yuna looks afraid. A mental smirk fills my mind. The bastard is scared. Good.

"Defense Headquarters, do you copy?" I ask. No doubt some of them do not believe it is me, all thanks to Yuna's actions…Damn him…

"_Some of you may have doubts because of my sudden return…can you put the Commander-in-Chief on please?"_ I ask. If Yuna responds, then he can confirm it really is me.

"Cagalli, Cagalli, Cagalli!" Yuna cries. Hate fills me, yet I suppress it. I cannot act out on only emotion, otherwise, he will doubt it is me. "YES! You've come to rescue me! You're my honey! Oh, thank heavens! You are my goddess!" he purrs.

"The Commander-in-Chief? Surprise, it's me!" Yuna says as he points at himself. I roll my eyes behind the glass of my helmet. Duh, not like I don't know that. I was there when he _tried_ to take command.

I resist the urge to throw up. Yuna is making me sick. But I hold back my thoughts. I decide to act flirtatious to get Yuna's attention.

"_Yuna, are you saying that you recognize me to be Cagalli Yula Attha, the Chief Representative of the ORB Union?"_ I ask in a flirting tone. That should help him confirm that I am really back, even though it makes me sick.

"Of course, of course, of course!" Yuna cheers. He sounds happy. What an idiot. "There's no doubt in my mind of who you are! It's the real Cagalli, alright?" he says. He sounds confident that I love him. He is such a thick-headed fool.

"_Then I use my authority to issue the following order… Soldiers, for the crime of treason, I want you to arrest and restrain _Yuna R. Seiran_!"_ I order. I hear him gasp in shock, and happiness fills me. How I have wanted to say that for so long!

"Uh…" I hear Yuna gasp in shock at my order. Too bad for him. It was his decisions that led to this, and I am surprised at the lack of guilt about my orders.

"It's an order! We're taking you into custody!" An officer snarls. I overhear everything due to the com-lines being open. I smile at his anger-filled voice. '_So, they hated Yuna being in command as well, huh? Well, now they'll all get their chance at revenge.'_ I think.

"What?" Yuna barely gets out the word before a punch to the face knocks him down. "UNH!" he grunts. I resist the urge to laugh. '_You deserve it, bastard.'_ I think with a smirk that is not seen.

As more soldiers of ORB begin to pile on top of him, I can hear Yuna's pathetic cries. "No wait! You can't do this to me!" he screams, trying to get free. But the pile is too much for him to try and throw off.

I observe three Murasames turn to their robot forms and fire on three DINNs that are on the coastline. Two more DINNs try to fire on me, but I position the Akatsuki so that it can deflect the beams._ 'Thank you, father, for everything…'_ I think as I recall the reflective system that was the armor.

The results of the beams reflecting back at them were the DINNs being destroyed. I hover down, ready to take on other attacking ZAFT units. "Get Yuna to cough up Djibril's whereabouts. Unato's with the Cabinet. Get him on the line!" I order.

"_ORB Forces, as of this moment, I am taking command. Is that clear?"_ I ask. I hear the confirmation that I have been seeking. "Ma'am!" Colonel Soga replies.

"_All remaining Astray teams, gather at Takamitsugata. Deploy two teams of Murasames to give them air cover. We must protect our homeland!"_ I say as I fly back towards the main island's capital. _"Everyone, lend me your strength!"_

I see the teams begin to make progress in driving off ZAFT forces. '_Good. We're driving them back. That is what I like to see. Now this is not a war, it is self-defense while we search out Djibril. Yuna, you snake. You did this, and for that, I can _never_ forgive you…'_ I think as the Astrays and Murasames work to defend the nation I call home.

But before I can do anything else, a message comes in from another ORB soldier.

"_Lady Cagalli, please be careful! ZAFT reinforcements!"_ he says as I look back, only to see said unit. Chills run down my spine, but I know who it is.

"That one…" I murmur as I catch it on the Akatsuki's main cameras.

I recall the footage of the battle of Heavens Base. It is the same unit that took down the Destroys of the EA as well as Athrun's machine as he tried to flee from ZAFT. I fire the engines of my machine and head towards it. There is no way that he is going to take down ORB without a fight.

I cry out as I feel my SEED explode in my mind. Enraged, I fire my beam rifle, hoping to get a hit on him.

Rage fills me as he blocks my shots, but I refuse to give in to him.

_'This is for Athrun and ORB! You will not harm them again!'_ I think as I let out a silent snarl. This one will never get past me…

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Yes, I had Cagalli go SEED in here. If she was capable of going SEED once, then her desire to protect ORB would lead to it happening again. Anyway, please read and review! Constructive criticism is appreciated and will be looked to in order to improve my fics. So send in those reviews! ^^


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